Developing relationships with your potential customers is imperative when trying to convert them into buying customers. Concentrating your efforts on understanding what they want and delivering the information and answers they need will go a long way in earning their business. After all, 50% of the leads in your system are typically not ready to buy, and nearly 80% of new leads never become sales.
So how do you stack the odds in your favor? First, you need to develop a lead nurturing strategy that works for your company.
5 Ways to Build a Profitable Lead Nurturing Strategy
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- One Step at a Time
It takes time to go from treating all your leads equally to developing an intricate lead nurturing strategy, based on best practices, which addresses the needs of each of your leads. Take a step back, do some research, segment your leads, and find a strategy that works best for your business and the demographic you are targeting.
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- Determine Which Leads Can Be Nurtured
There are many reasons someone would be visiting your website, and they don’t all mean sales. Some visitors may try to figure out if your solution is something they want. Or the visitor could be a competitor, a researcher, or someone who typed in the wrong URL. So don’t assume every lead can be nurtured. Instead devise a smart marketing campaign that can provide insights into what level of the funnel or buyer’s cycle they’re in, then start thinking of content that will appeal to them.
Next, get rid of the unmarketable. Keep your database clean of duplicates and no-sells like obvious competitors.
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- Review Your Content
Before starting your first nurturing campaign, assess the content you have. Figure out whether you have enough by organizing your videos, blog posts, case studies, or whitepapers into types and stages. Next, decide how that content suits the type of lead you’re targeting. From there, make sure you pare down content where necessary—shorter videos, emails with lists, etc. And always consider repurposing content; it’s an easy way to get more bang for your buck.
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- Start With One Campaign
You have to start somewhere, so rather than jumping in with several campaigns that haven’t been developed, create a well-designed nurture campaign for a particular demographic. You’ve already established criteria for your leads, so cater the campaign to them. Use a simple giveaway like a monthly newsletter, a free whitepaper, or a bi-weekly webinar to connect with interested prospects. Build your list.
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- Lead Nurturing Software
Purchasing lead nurturing software is the last step in your strategy. But it’s important that you take some time to conduct research on the software before making an investment. And you will also want to have a good handle on your audience and figure out your budget before proceeding. Lead nurturing or drip marketing software runs the gamut for features and cost. There’s very simple software all the way up to complex, enterprise-level offerings.
Once you’ve considered your options and narrowed down your needs, select one. Use lead nurturing software to organize your leads and further track your interaction with them. You can then conduct much more advanced lead nurturing through lead potential ratings based on their activity and creating content options to see which they select. This will give you further insights into their preferences, interests, and readiness to purchase.
